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| Date: | Tuesday 5 September 1939 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | Handley Page Hampden Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 7 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | L4161 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near Cantley, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Finningley, South Yorkshire |
Handley Page Hampden Mk.I L4161, 7 Squadron, RAF Finningley: Written off (destroyed) 5/9/39 when dived into the ground, near Cantley, Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Pilot lost control on a training flight, he was practising single engine flying at the time of the accident. The pilot was killed and he was the first wartime flying fatality in Yorkshire since the outbreak of war.
An investigation found that it was possible that the pilot had shut down one engine to practice single engine flying but he had lost control and the aircraft had entered a steep dive from which he was only partially able to recover before it then dived vertically into the ground at high speed and at a steep angle.
Crew:
P/O (39679) Anthony Richard Playfair (Can. pilot) RAF - was killed
He is buried at Finningley (Holy Trinity and St Oswald) Churchyard.
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-N9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1983)
2. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1939a.htm
3. http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2702937
4. http://www.worldnavalships.com/directory/aircrewprofile.php?AircrewID=11685
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantley,_South_Yorkshire
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2702937/playfair,-anthony-richard/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 20-Apr-2018 19:21 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 10-Nov-2018 22:14 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator, ] |
| 19-May-2024 10:51 | Nepa | Updated [Location, Narrative, Operator, ] |
| 10-Jul-2025 17:24 | MMR | Updated [Narrative, ] |
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